Should I tell my DD to not be pre-med?

[Anonymous]

She is not alone:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/16/study-finds-women-dropping-out-premed-science-courses-higher-rates-men

[Anonymous]

Seems wrong to tell her not to be pre-med and then tell her if her new major isn’t STEM (and public health doesn’t count), then she has to leave JHU.

Personally, I’m in favor of letting her figure out pre-med isn’t going to work (or how to make it work), but I think that the threat of being kicked out (by you) of an excellent school (where she seems to be doing well) if she switches to a major she enjoys and that plays to her strengths has to be an obstacle to sensible decisionmaking on this issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems wrong to tell her not to be pre-med and then tell her if her new major isn’t STEM (and public health doesn’t count), then she has to leave JHU.

Personally, I’m in favor of letting her figure out pre-med isn’t going to work (or how to make it work), but I think that the threat of being kicked out (by you) of an excellent school (where she seems to be doing well) if she switches to a major she enjoys and that plays to her strengths has to be an obstacle to sensible decisionmaking on this issue.

Except DD is NOT doing well.

[Anonymous]

DD did not do well in 2 (crucial pre-med) courses, but seems to have done well otherwise, both in classes and wrt research and extracurricular activities (that sound career-oriented). OP seems to think DD can/should stay at Hopkins if she remains a STEM major, so the claim is not that the school is too challenging; it’s that pre-med is insanely competitive and it’s not a competition DD can win at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems wrong to tell her not to be pre-med and then tell her if her new major isn’t STEM (and public health doesn’t count), then she has to leave JHU.

Personally, I’m in favor of letting her figure out pre-med isn’t going to work (or how to make it work), but I think that the threat of being kicked out (by you) of an excellent school (where she seems to be doing well) if she switches to a major she enjoys and that plays to her strengths has to be an obstacle to sensible decisionmaking on this issue.

Except DD is NOT doing well.

DD did well her freshmen year and seems like a very involved, well-rounded kid. Then she had one crappy semester, OP should try to figure out what went wrong with this semester.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:No. It’s her journey.

OP here. But, I'm paying for her school.

And you wouldn’t pay if she doesn’t get into med school?

Don’t do that, OP. You’re paying for her college education. What she does with it is up to her.

OP here. No, I would get her to transfer to a cheaper school if she decides not to be pre-med because full price for a public health degree is not worth it.

Wow.

+1 I mean seriously, what a way to destroy your kid.

+2. You’re a horrible parent, OP. The truth is out. No wonder your poor daughter is suffering.

+3 stay out of this op. You are awful and your kid will do better navigating it without you.

OP here. How am I the "bad" one here. $70,000 is a lot for a degree in public health if all she decides she wants to work in health policy or epidemiology. We know there is no money there. I just want my DD to have a well-paying, stable job and if she goes all "social justice warrior" on me, what we're paying for Hopkins won't be worth it. I have supported her every step of the way, but I know my DD is in that stage where she believes she can "change the world" and that's not real life.

Jesus, shut up!! You’re making yourself look even worse. You’re a fricking nightmare parent. Conditional love at it’s worst.

NP. I am sure the above poster (and similar posters) is a student.

[Anonymous]

Do you really need all As to get into medical school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you really need all As to get into medical school?

Almost .

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I'd encourage her to talk to her academic advisor or other academic counseling resources. It doesn't sound like she's likely to be competitive for medical school, but sometimes things can change. Which science courses is she struggling in (physics? chemistry? biology?)? What's her major?

OP here.
She was a neuroscience student and ended up with a D in her neuroscience course (which caused her to change her major to public health) and she ended up with a C+ in orgo 1.

Is that it in terms of the c’s and d’s? If so, I wouldn’t discourage her. Her grades could trend upwards. Has she been doing any extracurriculars for medical school, eg, research, clinical internships, emt type stuff? There are post bac. programs for kids with not so stellar grades she can do if med school is truly what she wants.

OP here. That's the only C or D she's gotten. She's been doing neuroscience research for the past two years and starting public health research in the spring. She does a billion other disability advocacy projects for her field outside of all this and tells me that's what's going to get her into med school.

This is all great stuff, OP! I would not discourage her. She can also apply to D.O. schools which generally require a lower gpa. If she really truly wants to do med school, she should stick with it.

[Anonymous]

Parent of a kid at Hopkins here. So many of the kids start as pre-med and then get weeded out by these prerequisites. My kid is pursuing a STEM major (not pre-med) and some of his friends have really had their eyes opened at just what is required to do well. That said, my advise would be to see if she can retake the class and sub the grad. I've heard of kids doing this but don't know details. She should also try to find a professor to talk with (which may be hard bc the amount of help/mentoring/counseling at JHU is a joke despite the tuition, and online hasn't helped - but a post for another day.) Anyhow, I think you have a right to have a serious conversation with your daughter about what she wants and your expectations esp regarding paying. And honestly, my kids freshman roommate was Writing Seminars major - and spouse & kid agreed that it was crazy to be paying Hopkins tuition for that. YMMV